It’s a 40 minute ride from Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport (try one of the hotel’s Mercedes-Benz) to the hotel in the center of the financial district – a perfect location for everything Taipei has to offer.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Let’s cover the basics.  You first clue – The Regent is a Four Seasons property.  Second,  it's on the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List.  If you need a third clue to recognize first class, go back to hotel basics.  This is Taipei's premier hotel.

The hotel lobby is spacious and elegantly decorated and the Reception Desk will have your weary body into a delightful room in no time.

The 21-storied Grand Formosa Regent has 539 newly renovated deluxe guestrooms including 60 suites.  Standard and deluxe rooms are the same, each measure 484 square feet – try to find that in New York City.  All rooms have a quietly elegant décor with marvelous marble bathrooms.

My wife and I had a spacious, well decorated 19^th floor corner suite.  Our entry foyer led to a large living room and adjoining dining room.  One evening we comfortably entertained 15 people for cocktails.  As a recovering workaholic, I appreciated the executive sized desk, fax machine and the 3 phone lines with two International Direct Dial (IDD) lines giving me computer access as well as a voice line.  Other will like the entertainment center with its TV and VCR.

Our corner bedroom afforded us a panoramic view of this part of Taipei. Spacious, with a larger than life king-size bed, it had good closet space, and, of course, a separate phone and TV.  The marble tiled bathroom offered double sinks, an enclosed shower, a large jacuzzi-style bathtub, and a separate water closet (toilet to you Norte Americanos).

RESTAURANTS

Not to worry – you will not suffer for lack of a good place to dine. The Grand Formosa Regent has ten quality restaurants offering a wide variety of culinary options.  The options range from simple dining to meet your more immediate needs up to several elegant restaurants for those special occasions.  Several of the choices include:

The Brasserie – This is an all-day restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. The Brasserie offers both east and west favorites to satisfy the international clientele of the Grand Formosa Regent.

The Court – This is the hotel’s meeting place and offers an all-day a la carte menu along with an extensive selection of beverages. Live music is played from Noon until late in the evening.

Tsai Yi Lao – Tsao Yi Lao features traditional Cantonese favorites including Dim Sum and serves lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner.

The Teppanyaki – This western-style restaurant combines the finest quality western ingredients with the eastern-style of teppan cooking.  We had a delightful meal here and you can enjoy watching the Chef prepare and cook your entrée (I promise it’s not like Benihana).

Tsai Fung Shuen – This is an elegant and sophisticated Cantonese restaurant offering fine dining with elegant service.

The Formosa International Club – This is the hotel’s exclusive restaurant for the use of members and hotel guests only.  It is located atop the hotel on the 20^th floor and includes a lounge, an elegant a la carte Shanghai-style restaurant, and several VIP dining rooms.  This is the restaurant of choice to impress friends and business associates.

OTHER SERVICES AND FACILITIES

The speed and efficiency of the hotel's staff is demonstrated in their 24-hour Butler Service.

A small premium puts you in The Executive Club (about $38 per day) enjoying complimentary breakfast, all-day beverages and canapés, evening hors d’oeuvres, exclusive computer facilities, and express check-in and check-out services.

The Business Center is never closed – it's open 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.  The center offers the latest in technology in personal computers and telecommunications, tri-lingual secretarial services and a business reference library.

Shoppers don’t despair! The Regent Galleria offers the ultimate in haute-couture fashion and Duty Free Gifts.

The hotel's exercise room is free to hotel guests with a good selection of modern, computerized equipment.  The Health Club is available to hotel guests for $14 per day and offers fitness classes, massages, a hair salon, and a spa and sauna.  There is also a year-round rooftop swimming pool.

SIGHTSEEING IN TAIPEI

Taipei, the capital of the Republic of China (ROC), never allows the visitor to forget its founder – Chiang Kai-Shek.  Chiang's republican forces fought Mao Zedong's Communist forces over control of the mainland.  Chiang fled the mainland for Taiwan with his army and supporters in 1949.  Over the next 26 years he was the absolute ruler and leader.  Only in the last few years has Taiwan enjoyed democratic elections (martial law was not abolished until 1987).  Taipei is still covered with Chiang statues and memorials.

The biggest Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial is in a large park about one mile from the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel.  There's the requisite statue of Chiang and a museum on Chiang’s life with a selection of interesting photographs.  The National Concert Hall and National Theater are also located in the same park and are interesting examples of imposing Chinese architecture.

The real must see in Taipei, however, is the National Palace Museum.  It houses the world’s largest collection of Chinese art and artifacts.  Chiang left China with a bundle - the museum has about 720,000 pieces in its collection.  To give you some idea of what this means, it would take 12 years to display all the pieces leaving each up for 3 months.  This is a museum you need to visit several times to truly appreciate and absorb the large number of current displays.

SHOPPING

Honestly we were disappointed with the shopping in Taipei.  Bargains one could find not too many years ago no longer exist.  I think this trend is worldwide – many of the best shopping bargains in the world are to be found in the U.S. these days.  Don’t get me wrong, there are wonderful shops in Taipei with outstanding merchandise – you just can’t expect the prices and bartering of the old days.

An interesting shopping diversion in Taipei is the city’s colorful night markets.  There are a number of them in the city, the most famous being the Snake Market.  They offer a fascinating look into the culture of the Taiwanese and offer a bewildering array of local and foreign goods.  The markets are generally open from 7 PM to around Midnight.  Ask the hotel’s Concierge for advice on choices and location.

OUTSIDE OF TAIPEI - THE TAIWAN COUNTRYSIDE

We took a beautiful and fascinating five-day tour of the island of Taiwan.  The mountainous eastside of the island reminds one of California's Big Sur with the road literally hanging off the edge of the ocean!

Most spectacular place was the Taroko Gorge – a magnificent marble canyon with towering cliffs, whitewater rivers, hot springs and incredible vistas.  The gorge is in Taroko National Park and the highway into the park is an engineering marvel consisting of a never-ending series of tunnels carved out of the marble rock – a must see.

Other places you might want to add to your itinerary are Hualien, Chihpen, and Kenting.

Our stay in Taiwan concluded with a final night in the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei.  Although our accommodations on the tour were good, we felt like we had come back home to the lap of luxury and you will too if you ever get an opportunity to stay in this wonderful hotel!

By Waights Taylor      November 1999